A lengthy page-one story in the July 23rd issue of Automotive News sharply criticizes the “skimpy givings” by the Carroll Shelby Children’s Foundation. Shelby, a noted American racing driver and winner of France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans sports-car race in the 1950s, was alerted to the plight of children awaiting life-giving organs while he, himself, awaited a suitable heart for transplant. After receiving the heart in 1991 and its successful transplant, Shelby created the charity that bears his name. Its goal: Help pay medical expenses for families with children in need of organs and tissue transplants or plagued by acute cardiac disorders. The charity has benefited from Shelby’s 2006 business renewal with the Ford Motor Co., with which he created the hot-selling Cobras and Shelby Mustangs in the 1960s. Vehicles donated in recent years by Ford to the Shelby charity have generated nearly $2 million when auctioned. Though not accused of personally benefiting from the charity, the story criticizes Shelby and his wife, Clio, for sloppy administration, noting only two 2005 grants were made, totaling $24,944, in a year in which $594,062 in contributions was received. Expectations are that $500,000 will be realized from the ongoing raffle of a Ford-donated Shelby Cobra, results of which will be made known Aug. 18. So far this year, the Shelby charity has realized $725,000 in cash from the auction of two Ford-donated Shelby GTs. Associates of Shelby involved with the charity say steps are now being taken to correct its business operations. Non-profit organizations endowed by private individuals and/or corporations are required to give at least five percent of their total assets to charity annually, according to the Automotive News story.

No numbers yet. The 675-acre land parcel on New York City’s Staten Island, on which International Speedway Corp. had planned to build a major raceway, is now for sale, a recommendation that the city buy it as a golf course site having been rejected. It is being actively marketed as Staten Island Logistics Center. Because of its lengthy waterfront, it is touted as an ideal shipping location. More than 15 parties have expressed interest, according ISC Project Manager Michael Printup. The land is the last available port site in the greater New York area, leading to speculation ISC will not only recover its $150 million in raceway expenditures but, once sold, show a tidy profit.

Motorsports Authentics, the merchandising giant that is now owned 50-50 by rival ISC and Speedway Motorsports, Inc., has not shown a profit since its 2006 merger. A serious blow was the announced departure of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as driver of the Budweiser-backed No. 8 DEI Chevy, which sharply cut into the sale of die-cast models of that car.  Another potential hit came last week when Dale, Jr. announced he will henceforth handle all his own licensing — said by some to be worth as much as $30 million annually. Mark Dyer, former VP of licensing and consumer products at NASCAR, has assumed the presidency of Motorsports Authentics and reports the company is en route to a second-straight losing year. Business publications say this could mean between $15 million and $20 million in red ink for MA due to lost sales this year.

Big bucks. Corporate Plaza Partners, builders of NASCAR Corporate Plaza, a 380,000-square-foot, 19-story office tower adjacent to the planned NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte, N.C., have received approval for $95 million in construction loans from Wells Fargo & Co. and Regions Bank.

It will have to be an outstanding and classic contest to outrank the Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park presented by Hormel Compleats on ESPN last Saturday night as the best NASCAR race of the year. The persistence, track savvy and late-race competitive style displayed by midget-trained Jason Leffler, which produced the first Busch Series victory for Toyota, will be long remembered. In another TV opinion, it is surprising Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are the only active drivers on ESPN’s roster of NASCAR’s all-time top-20 drivers, headed, of course, by the late Dale Earnhardt. And ESPN needs to drum into its track-side reporters how to ask questions and not make statements in interviews and to never, never order subjects to “talk about” such and such, as that is a dead giveaway the announcer isn’t hep enough to craft a relevant question. Lastly, are we ever glad the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is now history, which means we won’t have to watch on TV — over and over again — drivers kissing bricks. Enough!

The awards banquet season is off to an early start in dairy land. The annual reunion of the Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass’n is slated this Sunday Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. at its home track, Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wis., while the Champ Car Atlantic Championship awards dinner comes Aug. 12 at the ritzy American Club in Kohler, Wis.

Former eastern midget-car owner Ken Brenn, who won rave reviews for his classic race-car show last September in his hometown of Warren Township, N.J., has announced a repeat of the event for Sept. 9, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., same location. Rain date is Sept. 16. Brenn feels last year’s entry of 428 cars will be exceeded. Want to know more? Call Ken at 908-647-1609. See you there.

A Racing Legends Reunion has been scheduled as part of an Empire Super Sprints day at the Little Valley, N.Y., Speedway on the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds at 6 p.m. Sunday Aug. 26th. Race cars from yesteryear are sought for exhibition purposes. The night’s racing program on the half-mile dirt track includes super stocks, E-mods and street stocks, along with the ESS gentry. Details from Wayne Reed at 716-257-9573.

Name change. The United Auto Group, chaired by Roger Penske and one of the three biggest auto dealership groups in this country, has become Penske Automotive Group, Inc. The stock in the renamed Co. is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange as PAG rather than UAG.

Canadian motorsports entrepreneur Glenn Butt says the success of his first Canadian Motorsports Expo warrants a renewal. Butt says the 2008 version at the Toronto Congress Centre is scheduled January 18-20. The show’s official Web site is www.canadianmotorsportsexpo.com or by phone 905-721-1762.